There’s no way to sugarcoat it: the results in the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals were a massive disappointment for the MLS. They had four teams with a chance to reach the semifinals but all of them suffered sounding defeats against Liga MX foes so the CCL title will end, once again, in Mexico for the 11th straight year.
It’s certainly a tough pill to swallow for MLS as a whole. The league has experienced a huge growth in terms of revenue, quality players and importance around the globe but that hasn’t translated to results at the Continental level where the Mexican sides continue to dominate with relative ease.
Aside from Montreal Impact in 2015 and Real Salt Lake in 2011 no MLS team has reached the Final since the tournament started became the CONCACAF Champions League. Los Angeles Galaxy and Seattle Sounders reached the semis in 2013 but they were eliminated by Santos Laguna and Monterrey, respectively.
Unfortunately things weren’t different this season.
Both D.C. United and Real Salt Lake lost in the first leg and showed an alarming inability to turn things around in US soil (both lost 0-2 in the first match and drew 1-1 in the second one) while being massively outplayed by an average Mexican side such as Querétaro and a bonafide title contender such as Tigres UANL that features a world-class striker like Pierre-André Gignac on their squad.
Seattle looked like the most decent side by a mile. They escaped with a 2-2 draw in the first leg after a heroic effort from Clint Dempsey but they couldn’t repeat that same effort in the second leg. America outplayed them with ease and the 1-3 loss was a fair reflection of a game where the American side couldn’t adjust to the altitude conditions in Estadio Azteca.
If Seattle was the most decent team then Los Angeles has to be considered the biggest disappointment of all the MLS representatives. Even though they had players like Nigel de Jong, Giovani dos Santos, Steven Gerrard and Robbie Keane in the roster, Bruce Arena’s team looked like an amateur team against a Santos Laguna team that didn’t show anything special aside from Djaniny’s pace and Martin Bravo’s effectiveness in front of goal.
LA Galaxy was clearly the more experienced side and they had the better roster on paper but they couldn’t translate that into the pitch, something that has quickly transformed into a disturbing trend for MLS teams. The squads all around the league are becoming better after each year but there must be something wrong because they are not performing as expected in the international stage.
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It could be that the Liga MX sides are simply better or it might be because the Mexican teams have a huge advantage due to the altitude conditions they have in their country. Another possibility is that, while the MLS has improved in terms of quality, the pace of the games isn’t very high and that leads to American sides struggling when playing against faster, more physical teams.
Some have even blamed this on the commissioner Don Garber as several fans believe the league needs to be re-structured to have fewer teams, more quality and an adequate promotion and relegation system like all the other leagues in the world.
Whatever the answer is, this is something that needs to change pretty soon. The MLS can’t continue to be the second-best league in the CONCACAF region when they have the better players, the better infrastructure and the resources to take over the top spot rather easily.